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How San Francisco Became The Tech Mecca It Is Today

By Since the area was first settled in 1776

By Thomas Mensendiek

San Francisco Tech Mecca

Since the area was first settled in 1776, San Francisco has
evolved to become one of the world’s greatest tech hubs, especially for
startups. It’s a major transformation that originated from humble beginnings,
when a single military fort was constructed by Spanish Captain Juan Bautista de
Anza, who used it as part of his efforts to support Mission Dolores.

You can’t Google “When was San Francisco founded?” without
seeing Mission Dolores appear in your results, as it really was an integral
part of the city’s making. In fact, it was the Spanish settlers who were
involved in Mission Delores that gave San Francisco its name, referring to
their new location as Mission San Francisco de Asís.

Many people debate the meaning behind San Francisco’s name
origin, but it refers to Saint Francis, the Italian Catholic friar, deacon and
preacher. This makes sense, since the area was settled by Spanish missionaries
who were devout followers of the Catholic faith.

Eventually, in the mid 1800s, the fort was overtaken by the
U.S. Army. This occurred at the same time California became an official state.
The United States military felt that San Francisco Bay should be better
defended, and as such, decided to construct three coastal defenses in an
attempt to strengthen their palisades.

But it wasn’t until Russian ships and other vessels began
entering San Francisco Bay to trade meat and grains that the city of San
Francisco as we know it today began to form.

Establishing The City of San Francisco

San Francisco in the 1800s was nothing like it is today.
When Jean Jacques Vioget was hired to plot the first map of the town (which
would later become the city), there were only 30-40 residents who lived in the
area permanently— most of whom were military captains and their families.

But growth became inevitable when a gentleman by the name of
James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848. His discovery created such a buzz,
that the news travelled all the way to New York City, resulting in hundreds of
people relocating to the area to pursue better economic opportunities.

By 1948, there were 25,000 people living in San Francisco,
thriving as a result of gold mining operations.

Soon after, silver deposits were also found nearby, opening
the doors for further mining exploration. With both gold and silver mines
offering new jobs and prosperity, the population of old San Francisco boomed,
with 150,000 residents being accounted for in 1870.

Overcoming Adversity

This phase of San Francisco history is crucial— especially
when you want to understand how the city became the money-making machine it is
today.

In 1906, San Francisco was hit by an earthquake, resulting
in devastating fires that lasted four days. 80 percent of the city’s
infrastructure was destroyed, and 3,000 people lost their lives. While many
communities would have been irreparably damaged by such a catastrophic event,
San Francisco was able to overcome the adversity it faced.

This was partly due to considerable infrastructure projects
like the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (opened in 1936)
and the Golden Gate Bridge (in 1937). But the biggest economic boost came as a
result of World War II.

The second World War played a monumental role in San
Francisco history. The city served as a supply point and ship port during this
time, with more than 1,400 vessels being constructed in the bay itself.

In addition to ship-building, World War II brought an influx
of people to the SF area. In total, 1,647,174 passengers, including soldiers,
sailors, Marines and civilians like Red Cross personnel, boarded ships in San
Francisco and headed out to the Pacific. More specifically, two-thirds of all
the troops sent to the Pacific in World War II passed through San Francisco,
creating more hustle and bustle than ever before.

Post-War Rejuvenation

This is where we get into the heart of San Francisco’s
background as a global centre for technological advancement.

In 1939, two men, William Hewlett and Dave Packard, founded
the Hewlett Packard company, which originally produced oscilloscopes from a
small car garage. Of course, as we all know now, Hewlett Packard would go on to
become a Fortune 500 company.

But the greatest impetus of San Francisco’s tech boom came
in the 1960’s, when the very first Internet system, then referred to as
ARPANET, was established at the Stanford Research Institute, as a result of
efforts by the US military to develop more sophisticated government
technologies.

This led to a tech expansion in San Francisco in the 1960s,
with companies like Xerox putting down routes in the area, and technologies
like the microprocessor and the microcomputer were being developed by talented
engineers from Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology.

The success of these ventures sparked the interest of
corporate investors, leading to an influx of cash, which contributed to the
creation of Silicon Valley as we know it today. In fact, major tech giants like
Atari, Apple, and Oracle were all founded in SF around this time.

The Internet Boom

You can’t paint an accurate picture of San Francisco history
without including the massive impact the emergence of the Internet had on its
success. Microsoft released Internet Explorer in 1996, which excluded any other
company from developing a web browser for the Windows operating system.

Soon after, companies like Yahoo and Google were formed,
with Google securing $25 million in investments to further develop their search
technology. Eventually, the Internet became faster, more accessible, and more
sophisticated, as high-speed fibre-optic cable was introduced and file sharing
became the norm.

The Silicon Valley We Know Today

As of 2018, 39 out of the top Fortune 1000 companies are
headquartered in Silicon Valley. And out of the 143 tech billionaires in the
world, more than half call Silicon Valley their home.

Major corporate brands like Facebook, Wells Fargo, Netflix,
Dropbox, and AirBnB all operate from the San Francisco area, making it the
nerve centre of today’s most high-tech developments, and a driving force of
North American culture. And when you consider that in 2017, the San Francisco’s
GDP amounted to $500.71 billion US, it becomes undeniable that the story of how
this city came to be is one of triumph.